‘Sonia retired as Cong prez, not from politics’
NEWDELHI: A day before Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi takes charge as party chief, his mother and outgoing party president, Sonia Gandhi said here, “My role is to retire.”
Minutes after Sonia spelt out her new “role”, the Congress swiftly moved to end any speculation about her political career.
Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Sonia Gandhi has retired as Congress president and not from politics. Her blessings, wisdom, and innate commitment to the Congress ideology shall always be our guiding light.”
Sonia, who turned 71 last week, has been the chief since 1998, becoming the longest-serving president of the party. She will hand over charge to Rahul at a function on Saturday, officially starting a new era in Congress.
A few years ago, Sonia, during a television interview, had said she wants to enjoy her retired life reading books and spending time with her family.
The 47-year-old Rahul, who will be the sixth member of the Nehru-gandhi family to head the Congress, has his task cut out. Besides the daunting mission of pulling the party out of its current phase of back-to-back electoral defeats, he will look to preside over an organisational overhaul, stitch together alliances, and lift the morale of its workers in order to revive the Congress’ fortunes.
In 1998, when Sonia took charge, confusion reigned. Congress was a fragmented party that then ruled just four states — Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Mizoram, and Nagaland — and had 141 members in the Lok Sabha.